Hello everyone, and Happy Spring! We here at LAMA are just coming off a very successful meeting in Portland, Oregon. Each year’s annual meeting seems to grow in not just numbers, but in the depth of the program and the value that it brings to our members. We took some time at this meeting to get feedback from our members at a Strategic Long Range Planning (SLRP) meeting over lunch. The Board of Directors and ASI, our management group, will be gathering that feedback and incorporating it into our immediate plans for our long range vision of this group. Last year, we did a very well received survey of our members. This recent planning meeting was a follow on to that, and as a board we are collecting that data and will be using it for our SLRP. We as a board feel very strongly that direct feedback from our members is the key to our long term success as a group. We want to provide real time solutions to the challenges we all face as managers in our day to day operations. LAMA as an organization strives to be a resource that we hope you look to first – either through our website, The LAMA Review, or our annual meetings.

The Portland meeting was a tremendous success. I would like to thank our program committee for all of their hard work putting together such an outstanding program. Great job to Tracy Lewis, Gordon Brackee, and Guerra Benberry. And to all of our speakers – thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. We hope that you consider joining us again in the very near future. A special thank you to Lynelle Dupupe for sharing her story of her experience at Tulane during Hurricane Katrina. We know what a difficult time you and your staff went through, and we thank you for sharing your story.

One last “thank you” and I promise I’ll stop! As many of you know, I was unable to attend the meeting in Portland due to health reasons. It was very difficult to sit back home while you all were meeting, and I need to thank our OUTSTANDING Board of Directors for all of the support and hard work not just in Portland, but the weeks leading up to it. Regina Correa-Murphy: This group would be just lost without you. You are the glue that holds this group together, and you are such a mentor to all of us. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you bring to our little family.

I look forward to a very productive year for LAMA. This is your organization, and we welcome all of your comments and feedback to provide you with the tools that you need to succeed.

All my best,
-KK
Kyrsten Koebach
2008-2009 LAMA President